Well, you can't say Boyer didn't try to make it otherwise since opening his store on Fern Street in 2006.

Velo Cult was at the center of one kind of bicycle culture in San Diego -- an urban community of folks who were happy to pedal their bikes from some place, to some place, without having to change into racing garments.

The periodic bicycle picnic rides to Balboa Park started at the front door of Velo Cult. So did the annual tweed rides.

We should have suspected something last year when Boyer turned over the operation of sdbikecommuter.com to the San Diego Bike Union (although their online activity seems to have faded away after last September. )

Besides being a forum for cycling issues, sdbikecommuter.com is a retail discount program.Customers who pedal up to the stores and restaurants listed on the site are eligible for discounts ranging from 5 to 20 percent.

"This is just the latest sign that Portland's bike economy is thriving and that people continue to move their lives and businesses here based solely on our respect and culture of bicycling.

We'll bring you more about this story soon. For now... How about a nice big Portland bike lover welcome for Velo Cult!"

Yeah. Yeah.

Maybe instead of worrying about the Chargers we should have been paying attention to local small businesses. Boyer told Bicycle Retailer that he won't be the last San Diegan to head north. Some of his customers seem inclined that way too:

“I wish I could take them with me. But some are talking about moving to Portland, so maybe I’ll see them again,” he said.

Jay Porter of Linkery and El Take It Easy could be next.

Here's what he wrote on his own blog: "When the whole Velo Cult store — owner, staff, and stock — up and moved to Portland at the end of December, it really hit home with me and a lot of my friends. An internationally-acclaimed business dedicated to pushing our culture forward so we can enjoy our city life more, finally just threw their hands up, quit, and moved to a place where there’s already a market for what they do. It’s hard to believe they won’t be better off for it. And that, of course, makes me suspect I should be thinking the same way about my own life."

Ouch.

Smart traffic lights know you are on a bicycle

Smart traffic lights that can tell the difference between a bicycle nd a motor vehicle may be coming to an intersection near you.